Be Yourself
by Darkly Dreaming
Summary: After Granny's death, Ruby and Viktor bond. Songfic to Audioslave's song of the same name.


A/N: Hey! I'm not dead! But it seems like my muse is, barring this little gem. I've got a Shenny started but have no idea what to do with it, so I just kind of left it in writing purgatory: the WIP folder.

However, I couldn't ignore my OUAT Frankenwolf shipper heart any longer and had to write something so I put all my songs on shuffle and this song just stood out. I hope you like it!

* * *

After Granny's death, Ruby spent what time she wasn't working running. As a woman, as a wolf, it didn't matter. Snow and David and Emma were gone who knows where and she didn't have anyone to talk to about it. Tonight was a full moon, so she ran as the wolf. When she was finally exhausted she simply lay where she fell and sobbed til she slept. The endorphins from running helped, but once she stopped the pain rushed back and she couldn't handle it by herself.

Viktor walked to the hospital for the early shift, regardless that it was technically his day off. Since the curse broke the hospital employees had stayed, but weren't so confident in their knowledge of medicine, so every morning he holds a kind of pep rally to reinforce their belief that science can help people and that magic doesn't hold all the answers. He encouraged his nurses and fellow doctors to read medical texts in their free time. His favorite pep line has come to be, "We can save lives. Never doubt it."

Despite his pep talks and his encouragement, Viktor still felt despondent much of the time, and tried to bury it in alcohol and silence. He had such hope for others, but only fear for himself. Fear that he wasn't good enough, fear that he would never see his brother again, fear that his father would die convinced his now only son was a monster that could do no good. He wanted his name to stand for life, and he feared that now it never could.

He took the same route every morning, but today was different. He decided to stop by the cemetery and pay his respects to the people he couldn't save. A small part of him also mourns the loss of his brother, but the bigger part denies it.

Granny Lucas was one of the patients he couldn't save. She'd had another heart attack and hadn't been able to bounce back again. He'd tried everything he could, but it was her time to go. And that just sucked.

He'd held Ruby while she cried, but he didn't think she noticed. She was too distraught. He hadn't seen her since.

As he approached the cemetery he noticed a figure on the ground. He got closer and saw it was Ruby, lying curled up on her grandmother's grave. She looked like she was sleeping. Viktor approached her, careful not to scare her, and knelt down.

"Ruby?" he gently shook her. "Ruby, hey. Wake up, darling."

Ruby's eyes fluttered open and almost took Viktor's breath away. Even red-eyed and half-mad she was beautiful. "Sweetheart it's not healthy to sleep in a cemetery. You're freezing. Come. Up you get." He grabbed her upper arm and helped her to her feet.

Ruby stared at him the whole time with a confused look on her face. Finally she asked, "Viktor. What are you doing here?"

"I..." he faltered, thinking his reasoning now sounds stupid. He continued anyway, because he saw no reason she would mock him. He just caught her sleeping on her grandmother's grave.

"I came to pay respects to the people I couldn't save," he said, looking at Granny's headstone. 'Beloved grandmother and friend,' it said. He wondered why it didn't say mother, but kept the question to himself. Instead he asked, "May I inquire as to why you were sleeping here?"

"Oh," her head dropped and she looked at her leaf-covered clothes. Head still bowed she explained. "I was running last night and I guess this is where my subconscious decided I wanted to be and I was just so exhausted I just slept where I fell." Her gaze flicked up to his for a moment, then back down. "Guess I probably shouldn't do that again."

"Are you doing anything today?" Viktor blurted. He hadn't intended on asking her out, but she just looked so lonely and sad and beautiful and sounded so lost that his heart hurt and he had to help her be happy again. "I was going to go to the hospital today, but it's actually my day off. I could walk you home and you could clean yourself up and maybe we could have coffee?" He had a feeling he was starting to ramble so he shut up.

Ruby was silent a moment, searching Viktor's face for any sign of...anything. She didn't find anything she didn't like, so she agreed.

"Sure. Coffee would be nice. After a shower, though. I think I have dirt in my hair and I'm pretty sure I look like an actual monster." She giggled a little, but it died in her throat at his reply.

"You look beautiful. Leaves and all."

They walked together to Ruby's and he waited on her couch while she showered and dressed. Then they walked to Granny's diner, for it would always be Granny's diner. They drank coffee made by the new waitress. Ruby talked and Viktor listened.

They held hands on the way home and promised to talk again soon.


End file.
